Shillong, June 4 (PTI) Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday proposed five strategic initiatives to transform the North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) into a key driver of scientific innovation, climate resilience and data-driven governance in the Northeast.
Addressing the 13th meeting of the NESAC Society here, Scindia said the initiatives would help position the centre as a transformative institution for regional development, disaster preparedness and technology-led policymaking across the eight northeastern states.
The five initiatives are high-resolution village resource mapping, continuous monitoring of wetlands, forests, rivers and landscapes, promotion of geospatial and space-technology startups in the region, development of an all-hazard disaster resilience digital twin platform called “NER-Shield”, and the creation of a Northeast Green Wealth and Natural Capital Accounting framework.
The meeting reviewed the progress of NESAC projects and deliberated on a future roadmap for leveraging space technology, satellite applications and geospatial intelligence to accelerate development in the region.
Scindia said the deliberations were aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of technology-led development and carried forward the future-ready strategy for the Northeast articulated by Union Home Minister and NESAC Society president Amit Shah.
According to officials, 50 projects have been completed since the previous NESAC Society meeting held in Tripura, while 78 projects are currently under implementation across sectors such as agriculture, disaster management, weather services, communications, natural resource mapping, infrastructure planning and rural development.
The meeting also reviewed key initiatives, including cropping system analysis to improve agricultural productivity, bamboo and agarwood resource mapping in Assam and Meghalaya, weather and climate services, satellite-based communication support, and the NE-SPARKS outreach programme under which 786 students from the northeastern states visited facilities of Indian Space Research Organisation.
Highlighting the long-standing partnership between the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and NESAC, Scindia said both institutions, conceived during the tenure of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, have served the region for more than 26 years.
“NESAC and DoNER have shared an umbilical relationship since their inception. Both institutions have continuously served the eight northeastern states as instruments of development and transformation,” he said.
The minister said the completion of 50 projects since the previous meeting had created a valuable digital knowledge base supporting the aspirations of more than 4.5 crore people in the region.
He also highlighted the economic potential of agarwood cultivation and value-chain development, saying geospatial mapping and traceability systems could create new opportunities for farmers and entrepreneurs.
To strengthen disaster resilience, Scindia called for hyper-local, multilingual alert systems integrated with telecom networks and advocated expanding geospatial risk-monitoring tools for landslides and other natural hazards.
He further stressed the need for precision agriculture platforms, geospatial registries for high-value and GI-tagged products, and the use of drone technology to create livelihood and skill-development opportunities for youth and women.
The meeting was attended by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, Minister of State for DoNER Sukanta Majumdar, Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman of ISRO V. Narayanan, and senior officials from the Centre and the northeastern states. PTI JOP MNB
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